No more couple arrivals. Last year OnePlus launched the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro, a strategy the company has maintained since the OnePlus 7 Pro. For this 2022, the commitment to the high-end is the OnePlus 10 Pro, a model not accompanied by a lower variant. The surname Pro again denotes intentions: this mobile wants to be one of the best mobiles among the highest-end models.
With an increasingly narrow margin for improvement, the OnePlus 10 Pro is presented as a refinement of the previous model rather than as a new and disruptive evolution. Go through our analysis table of the most current OnePlus bet to check if the improvements they have added have been enough or if ambition has been lacking in the first OnePlus that arrives without hiding that it is a cousin-brother of OPPO.
Screen: an “old” acquaintance
Arriving at the panel, we can start to tell you something: the OnePlus 10 Pro is a camouflaged OPPO Find X5 Pro. Only the cameras and the finish separate them (the OPPO is ceramic) because the rest of the elements are the same. The screen is the same as the OPPO screen, which, in turn, is the same as the one we saw on the OnePlus 9 Pro.
We are thus facing a 6.67-inch AMOLED panel with Quad HD + resolution and second-generation LTPO technology. It has a color depth of 10 bits, and, in this generation, OnePlus has wanted to improve the calibration.
The panel of the OnePlus 10 Pro is well calibrated, especially in natural mode.
We still have an intense mode calibrated in DCI-P3 and a Natural mode calibrated in sRGB, with the option of a Pro mode that only allows us to change the white balance of the panel.
We recommend using Pro mode and slightly adjusting the white balance if you are not convinced by how warm it becomes (generally, the better calibrated a panel is, the more the ratio tends to warm). An excellent general calibration with a reasonable degree of customization.
Op Screen
We also have the ‘Natural Screen’ mode, OnePlus’ ‘True tone’ to adjust the color temperature according to ambient light. It also has a ‘Visual Comfort’ mode, which doses the blue light emitted by the panel so that our eyes are not damaged. Regarding the reproduction of the content, we can activate the increase in peak brightness in HDR content and force the image sharpness to be increased through software.
If we talk about the refresh rate, according to OnePlus, it can range between 1 and 120 Hz. In our tests, we have not been able to lower it below 10Hz, and there are no intermediate values such as 24, 48, or 50 FPS programmed. If we play a video at 24 FPS, it will do so at 30 FPS, and if it is a video recorded at 50 FPS, we will play it at 60. As soon as we touch the panel, it goes up to 120 Hz, and the experience is quite good, although not Excellent.
But let’s talk about one of the most frustrating points of this OnePlus: its curves. We already know it is a panel we have tested in the previous generation and recently tested in the Find X5 Pro. There is something untuned at the software level in this 10 Pro because the curves are more frustrating than usual. Doing a quick test on the panel, we verified that it responds 100% in turns and that OnePlus neither gives an option nor has it programmed that there is a dead zone.
That means when you grab the panel and touch the curve (something normal on a curved mobile), it already detects it as a touch. We’ve inadvertently drifted back, had trouble taking photos (the shutter doesn’t work if it detects another screen tap), and had to change grips to get the panel to work correctly constantly. This has an easy solution through software, but when reviewing this OnePlus, the curved screen is quite a frustrating problem.
Yield: The Champion of Sustained Yield
Very few manufacturers are managing to keep the power of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 at bay. Some give everything in benchmarks but then drop in performance after a few minutes. This is not the case with this OnePlus 10 Pro, the fastest Android high-end we have tested. Our version is the 12 + 256 GB version, top-of-the-line hardware that can handle anything we throw at it.
It uses what OnePlus calls a “3D passive cooling system” to cool itself. It is a system composed of five layers, with a vapor chamber that combines materials such as copper and graphene. Beyond the technical, OnePlus has managed to cool the 10 Pro very well. It exceeds 40 degrees when we demand it, but it does not go too high from there, so it does not burn.
Design: different and with an air of the past
The OnePlus 10 Pro has a new design language on its back. The brilliant finish of the generation is left behind the OnePlus nine in return to a matte paint inspired by the sandstone finish (sandstone) that we saw in some of the versions of the OnePlus One. It is a mobile finished in glass and aluminum, and to the touch, it is the most slippery that we have tested in a while. The mobile slides through the hand very quickly, so we recommend putting a cover on it (it is included in the box).
The OnePlus 10 Pro has excellent materials but does not feel too solid at the resistance level.
On the other hand, it has a strange feeling: it gives a particular sensation of fragility, despite not being excessively thin. Some have already verified that something breaks easily without taking care; it should not happen. However, the construction does lack robustness, even though the materials used by the company are correct.
There is another very curious detail about the construction. OnePlus does not certify it as IP68, but in the United States, the variant sold by T-Mobile does have this certification. This shows us that the terminal is waterproof but not registered as such in the European variants to avoid accreditation in other countries and not increase costs. We do not recommend getting it wet as the warranty will not cover it, but it does have this feature.
